Towel cabinet



April 1937- E. A. HAMNER' I 2,077,753

TOWEL CABINET Filed April 21, 1936 3nventor g WAWQ M Patented Apr. 20,1937 PATENT OFFICE TOWEL CABINET Elgin A. Hamner, Shreveport, La.

Application April 21,

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in a towel cabinet and isan improvement over the cabinet shown in my Patent No. 1,983,289. Anobject of this invention is to provide readily accessible towelcompartments'while completely shielding the used towels from the personof the user.

Another object is to make it possible to use a towel with a grommet inone'corner so as to permit continued use of the towel even after somecorners of the towel wear out.

A further object is to provide a towel guide rod which carries a towelto the soiled compartment entirely by gravity and which is secured tothe cabinet by means which are readily released.

With the foregoing and other objects in'view, the invention will be morefully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed outin the claim appended hereto.

In the drawing, wherein like symbols refer to like or correspondingparts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a towel cabinet embodying the featuresof the present inven- 5 tion.

Figure 2 is a central vertical section of the same.

Figure 3 is a detail view of the upper end of the towel guide rod.

Figure 4 is a central vertical section through a modified form ofcabinet.

Figure 5 is a detail plan view of a towel as folded in the cabinet.

Figure 6 is a transverse section of the guide rod 35 clamp taken on theline 66 of Figure 7, and

Figure '7 is a vertical section of the same taken on the line l-l ofFigure 6.

Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to the form ofcabinet shown in Figures 1 and 2, the cabinet is formed of a frontwallIt, a back wall ll, side wall I2, top [3 and base l4. Opposite the sidewall l2 the cabinet is left open to provide access to the interiorthereof. A clean towel compartment is formed in the upper end of thecabinet by providing a shelf l5 which is fastened at its edges to thewalls by means of the downturned flanges I6 or the like welded orotherwise secured to the cabinet. A towel guide rod I1 is connected tothe shelf l5 by fastening thereto by means of a clamp lock H3. The rodis then carried upwardly above the top 13 from the shelf passing throughthe stack of towels I9, is returned on itself and passes down into thelower part of the cabinet which forms the 55 soiled towel compartmentwhere it is secured by 1936, Serial No. 75,617

a similar clamp l8. The rod I1 is smooth and free from obstructionswhich would tend to catch a towel l9 and from the returned portion ofthe rod to the soiled towel compartment the towel is gently carried bythe force of gravity so that the usual tendency of grommets or eyes incaptive towels to wear out rapidly is substantially reduced.

Referring now to Figures 6 and 7 for details of the locks l8 and I8, inthe lock I8, a block 20 of substantial thickness is fastened to the walll2 of the cabinet. The block has a vertical groove in its face toreceive the end of the rod [1. yoke 2i has a channel formed thereincorresponding to the groove and adapted to form with the block 20 aclamp for the rod II. The block 20 and yoke 2| are separate pieces andare connected atonly one point by a clamping screw 22 which engages theyoke and screws into the block. In order to protect the towels andprevent unauthorized removal thereof, the head of the screw 22 has, inplace of the usual kerf, a peculiar key receiving face such as thespaced holes shown. Loosening of the screw to open the rod clamprequires the use of a key 23 which is kept in the possession of anauthorized attendant.

It is to be noted that this construction of cabinet permits the use of atowel l9 carrying a grommet or eye 24 in the corner as shown in Figure5. The towels are rectangular in shape and folded so as to overlapleaving the corner containing the grommet 24 protruding. Like the towelsshown in the patent above referred to, bundles of them are folded, atube inserted through the grommets to hold them in line and a rubberband or the like slipped around the bundle and over the ends of the tubeto hold the stack together. The downturned end of the rod [1 is passeddown through the tube which is then removed from around the rod llleaving the rod engaging the grommets 24 of the towels and secured tothe shelf l5 and by means of the clamp l8 which is then tightened. Therod I1 is attached to the shelf l5 about one inch from the rear wall IIat the corner so that the towels are at the open side of the cabinetwithin easy reach.

To use a towel the uppermost of the bundle lying on the shelf [5 isgrasped, slid over the loop in the rod ll, unfolded and used. Then afteruse it is only necessary to drop the towel when it will slide down therod I! into the soiled compartment as shown in Figure 1 and come to restagainst the side l2 of the cabinet. Successive towels traveling down therod l1 into the soiled compartment will be packed neatly and closelybecause as the grommets are in a corner the body of the towel hangs downand each towel hangs the same way so as to take up the least possiblespace. In effect the soiled towels are packed in extended position andstanding on one corner.

A great deal of loss has been experienced in furnishing captive towelsto be used in such cabinets as are in general use today. Theyuniversally employ a towel with the grommet in the center of an edge sothat when the towel tears at this point, as most do, the entire towel isa loss and must be discarded. It is also necessary to employ a re-.enforcement at the point where the grommet is inserted at great expense.The cabinet forming the subject of this invention is designed with therod I! at the corner of the shelf 15 and with the rod bent to provide agravity feed of towels into a soiled compartment which in turn isproportioned to receive the towels depending diagonally from theircaptive rod. The rod is also made smooth and free from obstructions fromone end to the other. Furthermore the clamps for the ends of this rodare designed to prevent marring or roughening of the ends of the rods.so that slipping the towels on and off of the rod will not tend to catchor tear the towels. These features permit use of a towel with a. cornergrommet and minimize the wear and tear of ordinary usage.

In this type of towel when a grommet tears through it is only necessaryto cut off the torn corner and insert a grommet in another corner as noreenforcement is required. In this way the life of a towel is quadrupledfor the loss of the corners does not materially detract from theusefulness of the towel.

Rleferring now to Figure 4, there is shown a modified form of cabinetcomposed of a fresh towel compartment 25 closed top and bottom and onthree sides. This compartment is adapted for attachment to a wall or thelike. A clamp lock I8 is secured to the flange 28 below the open side ofthe compartment to receive the upper end of the rod IT. A soiled towelreceptacle 26 is located beneath the fresh compartment 25, as forinstance, on the floor. The receptacle 26 is similarly enclosed exceptfor one side but unlike the compartment 25 it is higher on the open sidethan on the closed side and the top 21 slopes instead of being flat. Theslanted top 21 and the difference in height of the sides are adapted tothe angle of the rod I! which, as in the other form, slopes from thefresh compartment to the soiled towel receptacle where it is attached.

This latter form of the cabinet is designed for use, for example, inconnection with a wash stand, the compartment 25 being fastened abovethe stand and the receptacle 26 being located beneath the stand. Thesloped top 2'! reduces the space occupied by the receptacle, permits agreater degree of slope to be given the rod 11, and makes the soiledtowels and clamp lock l8 more accessible from the open side. The uppercompartment is constructed like the clean towel compartment of the firstform to permit use of towels having corner grommets.

As the folded towels are much narrower than the hanging towels in thesoiled compartment the clean towel compartment is preferably narrowerand the cabinet tapers upwards from a 12" x 12" bas to a 7" X 12" top.As one side of this cabinet is open the constricted clean compartmentaffords better protection to the towels lying there from dust and thelike.

A highly important feature of any cabinet of this type is insulation ofsoiled towels from the users person. The usual cabinet having an openside is a health menace in this regard whereas the present cabinetpresents to the user a completely closed wall. The soiled towels arecarried all the way to the side of the cabinet opposite the opening. andcannot come in contact with the users person. The used towels are onlyvisible from the open side of the cabinet and are accessible only bydeliberate reaching into the open side thereof.

There are installations of these cabinets in which a right side openingas illustrated in the drawing is inconvenient and a left side opening isdesired. This is, of course, within the scope of the invention as arevariations in the length of the rod IT in the two piece cabinet to adaptthe device to varying distances. The change of the soiled towelcompartment 26 in the two piece cabinet to another shape where space isnot so important is also contemplated.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made in thedetails of construction and design of the above specifically describedembodiment of this invention without departingfrom the spirit thereof,such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of thefollowing claim.

What is claimed is:

In a towel cabinet, an upper clean towel compartment open at one sideand having a shelf on which a stack of towels is adapted to be supportedwith the outer'ed'ge portions of the towels projecting slightly beyondsaid shelf, a lower soiled towel compartment, a captive rod for thetowels having a vertical portion lying exteriorly of theuppercompartment but close to the open side thereof adjacent one end wall,clamp means on the outer edge of the shelf for releasably holding thelower end part of the vertical portion of said rod, said stack of towelshaving registering eyes in corner portions thereof positioned to slideon said rod. said towels being folded along transverse off-center linesto produce enfolded upper portions offset from and exposing the eyes,said rod being bent downwardly from the upper end of said verticalportion and extended on a long diagonal sweep downwardly into the lowercompartment, clamp means for affixing the lower end of the rod to aninnermost part of the lower compartment and at a substantial heightabove the bottom thereof sufficient to suspend the towels in diamondsuspension whereby the same will not collapse or fold.

ELGIN A. HAMN'ER.

